Streams in the Desert

    Problems, difficulties,  and hardships I don't know about you but I have had my fair share of them. Maybe this week you, yourself have had to deal with certain things that have just seemed overwhelming. Perhaps you have had a car wreck and you are now trying to fight with the insurance to give you the money you need to purchase another vehicle. Maybe your recovering from a surgery or you received word that someone in your family is very sick and is in the hospital. Maybe you are reeling from the loss of a loved one and the grief you have is overwhelming. 

    I want you to know that your not alone.  Problems in life are nothing new, we all go through them from time to time. This is true for both the good and the bad, the saved and the unsaved. Problems and difficulties in life are impartial, they come to us all. 

    Now while that is true there is a diffrence for the believer in Christ and those who have yet to put there faith in Jesus Christ. We have a hope the world does not understand and does not know about. We have the option to put our hope and strength in God and trust that he will in His time and in His way will work these things out. We have a confidence in knowing that we are not walking through this valley alone. We have a certainty, knowing that the one who bleed and died for us, Jesus Christ, is with us in this trial. These are things that the lost do not possess. or even has access to apart from Jesus Christ. 

    Yet sadly sometimes we fail as believers to take ahold of the comfort afforded to us through Jesus Christ.  Even though we may know the help we are given through our relationship with Jesus, sometimes we fail to rely on that comfort. Instead we live in the valley of grief. We trudge through our troubles seeking to work things out on our own.  

    I think in the times of hardships and loss its important to remember the various passages of scriptures that remind us of the hope that we have in our relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Passages like Psalms 85:5-7

“Blessed is the man whose strength is in YOU; Your ways are in their hearts. Passing through the valley of weeping, they will make it a fountain; the early rain also covers it with blessings. They go from strength to strength aperaing in Zion before God.” (Psa 85:5-7) 

    In this passage we see that the man who puts his strength in God is blessed. But how are they blessed? Will that person no longer have any problems in there life? Will they be blessed with an abundance of riches?  Will that person find success in there life or in there work? 

    Well to put it simply, No. Despite what some slick haired preacher might tell you. Being blessed does not necessarily mean those things. No the psalmists tells us that that person who puts there strength in God, who holds God's ways in there hearts that person passes through the valley of weeping. Now I don't know about you but the Valley of Weeping does not sound like a good name for a tropical resort. The valley of weeping sounds like a place I hope to avoid with extreme prejudice. 

    However is not not where many of us find ourselves in this life? Are there not times in our lives where we feel we are in the darkest times of our lives. Moments when our eye's are red with sorrow, and grief so great that there are no more words to express the hurt. Perhaps as your reading this you yourself are in such a valley. 

    The psalmist says that the man who finds his strength in God, who makes God's ways his desire. That person when he goes into the valley of weeping will make it a fountain and that the early rain will cover it with blessings. What the psalmist is saying is that as you go through the valley of weeping, relying on God's strength and ways. That person will find blessings upon blessing. 

    We will see blessings for ourselves as we see God working through our problems and see how God provides for our needs. How he gives us the comfort's us in our time of grief and pain. How God brings healing to our body and soul. How God protects us in the midst of the various attacks we face. Furthermore we will see blessings for others as God allows our pain to help others going through the same. 

    It is in these blessings that help us grow stronger in our faith, as we rely more and more on God in the valley of weeping. These blessings will strengthen you and prepare you for the next battle that you will have to face in this life.  That is why the psalmist says "They go from strength to strength appearing in Zion before God

     You see we are all on a journey in this life. As we go through this journey we all must go through the valley of weeping from time to time. However you don't have to go through this alone. We can and should rely on God's strength and God's ways and if we will do that  we will find fountains of blessings, and you will find yourself coming out of that valley stronger than when you went in.